Closing bases

We have yet to meet the US senator who liked the closing of a local military base. But lawmakers who care about getting the most out of America’s half-trillion-dollar defence budget ought to be lining up behind the Pentagon’s recommendation on Friday to close more than 30 major domestic bases and scores of smaller installations.

By closing and consolidating facilities it no longer requires, the Pentagon would free about $5 billion a year for the additional personnel and equipment it needs very badly.

Many of those foreign bases benefit from host nation subsidies, so shifting those troops home will mean less potential savings. It also undermines military efficiency, since bases in places like Germany are closer to likely combat zones than those in Oklahoma or Kansas.

Still, the Pentagon deserves credit anytime it musters the courage to redirect money from areas that are politically popular but militarily redundant.

Several further steps are needed to make these cuts a reality, including review by an independent commission, followed by a congressional up-or-down vote on the final list later this year. The $2 billion that would have been saved over five years might have come in handy in Iraq. The war against military pork must be fought on many fronts. — The New York Times